Perceptions of innovativeness among Iranian hotel managers

Abstract

Purpose – Despite the undisputed importance of organizational innovation and decades of academic research on the subject, there is surprisingly little agreement on what innovativeness is or how to achieve successful innovation in practice. Furthermore, the difference between the theory and practice is often interpreted in an ad hoc manner, which limits the potential for innovation to provide a competitive advantage. This research aims to explore perceptions of innovativeness from the perspective of senior managers in the hotel industry from a sample of 11 high-class hotels located in the developing country of Iran. Design/methodology/approach – A stratified purposeful sampling method will be employed, in which in-depth interviews with top managers and owners will be carried out over a five-month period. Meaning units (MUs) will be extracted, which are compared and discussed with the interviewees until a basic agreement of terms can be made. Findings – The findings relate to themes such as Leavitt's diamond of task, structure, people and technology, with technology featuring quite strongly in a number of responses. It reflects how top managers and owners perceive that innovativeness can gain a competitive advantage by differentiating one hotel from another; and the role of national culture in developing that advantage. There are implications that a strong relationship with government and local business stakeholders could underpin innovativeness at local and regional level. Originality/value – This research provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of some important drivers of innovativeness in the context of the hotel industry in a developing country.

Entrepreneurial orientation in the hotel establishments

“…On the other hand, if the individual effect of each individual dimension is analysed, all three can be observed to have a positive impact on hotel establishment performance: innovation, pro-activeness and risk-taking explain 20, 15.3 and 13.2% of performance variance. Therefore, innovation is the most relevant dimension in entrepreneurship orientation, as suggested in other previous researches (Sandvik, Duhan & Sandvik, 2014;Tajeddini & Trueman, 2014).…”

Understanding Innovation for Sustainable Business Management Capabilities and Competencies under Uncertainty

“…Upgrading and integrating technology capabilities may benefit new product development and marketing (C14) in several ways; for example, it may decrease the cost of products and services while improving the efficient use of resources [102,103]. Some noteworthy advanced technologies include social media, mobile-friendly content, new technology for traditional points of sale, etc., and these new technologies can help a hotel advertise its products and services to potential customers regardless of distance with low-cost systems for searching and purchasing products.…”

Bireysel Yenilikçilik ve Algılanan Örgütsel Destek Düzeyi İlişkisi: İstanbul Otelleri Örneği

“…Bu durum değişiklikleri düzenlemek, yeni yetenekler inşa etmek, varlık tabanını dönüştürmek ve süreçleri yeniden yapılandırmak açısından değişen ortamlardaki rekabet gücü için önem arz eder (Teece vd., 1997;Surry vd., 1998;Eisenhardt ve Martin, 2000). Turizm alanında yenilikçilik çalışmaları (Choi, 2004;Trueman ve Tajeddini, 2014;Işık ve Meriç, 2015;Işık vd., 2016;Işık ve Türkmendağ, 2016) fazla yaygın olmamakla birlikte son yıllarda araştırmacıların ilgi odağı haline gelmektedir. Bu çalışmalardan ortaya çıkan genel sonuç bireysel yenilikçiliğin işletme performansına olumlu katılar sunduğu yönündedir.…”